I'll Be There For You

Chapter 9 - The Truth

María's POV

It's been a few hours since Sam has gone home. I cleaned up my apartment, did my laundry, and made myself some lunch, although I do still have a few boxes to unpack. I'm just too tired to finish up.

I flop down onto my couch and turn on the TV. I browse through the channels until I land on Friends.

I look down at my phone to check the time and notice that Luis has texted me.

Luis: Hey María. Are you by any chance busy this evening? I was wondering if.. you know, you maybe wanted to do something?
Luis: Not like a date or anything. Just.. you know, to hang out

I smile and as I was about to respond back to him, I got multiple texts. This time, from Armando.

Armando: Hey Mari
Armando: Could we please talk?
Armando: I don't want us to end like this
Armando: I'm so so sorry for everything that I've done

My smile slowly fades away. Not wanting to respond or have anything more to do with Armando.

A tear starts to stream down my cheek, as I stare down at his texts. And then a phone call comes in, it's from Luis.

I wipe away my tears and steady myself before answering.

"Hello?", I said, softly.
"Hey.. María", Luis said, his voice so soft and quiet, "I just wanted to check in. You doing okay?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm doing.. fine", I said, as I wiped my eyes, trying not to sound at all like I was just crying.
"You sure?", he asked. As if he can hear through my voice that something is wrong.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure", I said, reassuringly, "I was - just about to answer your text. Do you, maybe want to come over? I can make some coffee? Or hot chocolate?"
"Sure. That sounds like a good idea", he said.
"Alright, then.. I'll see you in a bit?", I respond.
"Yeah, I just gotta go down to the store real quick but I'll be over in a few minutes", he said.
"Sounds good. I'll see you then", I said, with a smile.

We both said our goodbyes and I set down the phone next to me.

As I lay back on the couch. I hear another message coming through. I look down at my phone and see it's from Armando.

Armando: Mari.. please talk to me

I put my phone on 'do not disturb' and put it face down as I set it on the coffee table. I pick my feet up and lay my head on the pillow. Laying on my side as I watch Friends, trying not to think at all about Armando.

**** **** **** **** **** *****

A few minutes past, and I heard a knock on the door. I get up from the couch, I turn off the TV and go to answer it. Hoping it's not Armando, I hold my breath as I slowly turn the knob.

To my surprise, it was Luis. I relax once again and smile as I see him.

He smiles as he sees him. He's holding a bouquet of roses and sunflowers.

"Hey", he said, with a soft smile.
"Hey", I said, softly.
"I - umm.. these are for you", he said extending the bouquet to me, "I remembered that yesterday on our date, I forgot to bring you flowers and I felt really bad about it, so I decided to bring you some today"
"Aww that's so sweet of you", I said, as I gently took the bouquet from him, "Thank you. These are actually my favourite flowers"
"Really? Well, I'm glad I made the correct choices", he said, with a smile.
"Come in", I said, as I stepped aside to let him in.
"Thank you", he said, as he came inside and closed the door behind him, "So, are you doing okay?", he asked, as he walked over to the counter and sat down.
"Yeah, everything.. is okay", I hesitated as I put the bouquet in a vase with water and stood across from him in the kitchen.
"You don't seem sure", he said, with a frown, "Something seems to be bothering you"

I stay silent for a moment. I didn't say a word, I didn't even make eye contact with him, because I know by just one look into those big brown eyes, I won't be able to control myself and tell him everything I'm feeling.

And I don't think I'm ready to say anything about this just yet...

But if I don't say something now, then it'll just keep eating me up inside.

I continue to stay quiet as I get two coffee cups from the cupboard and put water into the coffee pot, and heat it up.

"Mari?", he finally said. I slowly turn my head towards him. His eyes filled with sadness.

"I'm not gonna force you to tell me what's wrong but if you keep all that emotion inside, it's just gonna come out in the worst way in the end and you're gonna explode. Believe me, I know what that's like. The day that I broke up with my ex, Jennifer, I was devastated. I couldn't sleep, I couldn't eat. I stayed in my room for a whole week. Until my roommate made me come out and that's when I told him everything. I just exploded and let everything I was feeling out. He was the first person I ever told, that is.. after I met you and told you..", he let out a sigh, "But.. whenever you're ready to talk about whatever it is you're going through, I'm here for you", he said lastly.

I turn my head back to the coffee pot, and pour the hot water into the two cups and stir in the coffee and milk.

"I'll tell you..", I said, softly, "But.. let's go sit on the couch", I said, as I handed him his coffee.

We walked over to the couch and sat down. Keeping a fair distance between us. We set down the coffee cups on the table, and I started to tell him about Armando.

"Alright... Let me tell you about my ex, Armando...", I said, with a sigh, "We met back in college. I was studying architecture and he was studying engineering. He was the most charming and sweetest guy that I've ever met, that's basically what made me fall in love with him but.. he had one flaw, he was a drinker. But as we started dating, he pretty much stopped his drinking and everything was going good. He was happy, he was healthy. We were good. But after two years, I noticed something was off about him. He didn't seem like himself. He started to get a bit aggressive with me, and would often even hurt me. That's when I knew, that he had started drinking again. And you may be wondering, why didn't I just leave him right then and there? Well, I won't lie to you, I did think about that but then I thought to myself, I can't just leave him while he's in this state. And I also kept telling myself that this is not him, the real Armando is still in there. The same guy that I fell in love with is still there. That's why I stayed. So, that pretty much lasted three more years, he would hurt me, then apologize the next morning, we would make up and the cycle would continue. A few months before the breakup, I started getting tired of all this. I was tired mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausted of all it. I would cry myself to sleep every night, wishing I had left when I had the chance to. I know that if I would've stayed one more year with him, I would've either ended up in the hospital or dead. So, the night before we broke up, was the last time he would ever hurt me. I packed up my stuff and searched for the first available apartment I could find and moved out the next day... which is why, you see some moving boxes still here", I said, as I waved to the boxes around my living room, "And now, two weeks after the break up, he hits me up again apologizing and wanting to talk it over some more... I just - I just want to be able to move on.. but how can I - when.. when he doesn't just leave me alone? Maybe.. I wasn't meant for love at all.. maybe I was never meant to fall in love.. I never should've been in a relationship in the first place... I'm gonna die alone, and - and..", I stopped talking and covered my face and started to cry into my hands.

I felt Luis' arms wrap around me, as he pulled me closer to him. I removed my hands and cried into his chest.

We didn't say a word at all. He let me cry it all out. He was right, the more I held this all in, the worse it would get in the end.